First question would be wich track? Most knee knockers are a result of conformation issues, and corrective shoeing is indeed the first step. Simple theory is in order here. I am going to assume we are talking a pacer here? Either way the adage "speed 'em up in front and slow 'em down behind" was coined to address a multitude of interference issues. In the case of knee knockers usually a little taken off the outside of each hoof will do the trick, but you gotta be careful here, as you create an unlevel breakover, causing the wider gait as a result of said break. You could also tweek the angle in lieu of shaving the outsides. Remenber how it works. Lowering the angle lengthens the stride, while raising it shortens the stride. Real hard to shoe one in the internet, as a trainer/farrier would first need to evaluate conformation while barefoot, and how he wears his shoes as well, before settling on a course of action. A Farier of decent reputation would be able to assist you in correcting this common problem. Also consider if this is a new issue that has just developed of late. Sometimes it can be attributed to other issues but more often is caused by faulty shoeing or a change in farriers. We used spreaders that attached to the bike on horses that we chose not to fool with angle/trim wise, but I have not seen a pair in years. Could be an option as well, but tough call without first hand info. Hope this helped in some way....Using swedges already? Another issue to consider. Remember, corrective shoeing is taken by degrees. Gotta go easy at first, and have patience. Learn what is radical vs first approach to this issue, and sucess is at hand. Hope this helps...

My husband shod a horse over the weekend that was going to it's knees (a trotter) for the past three years. The horse raced yesterday and never touched itself. Diamond toe method...where are you located?

If so and by chance this horse is currently racing ,if you have to blow him out ,go the other way....or a straight track obviously until all is figured out, a solution like this on the internet is suspect at best ,if you must you could always throw all the armour with some chalk line on a sun shinny day and such,or perhaps everything else ..good luck ,hopefully you have ruled out and soundness issues....

Start from scratch. Go barefoot, allow horse to wear hoof the way he would naturally wear the breakover point then fit the shoe exactly to the foot, don't trim foot to fit shoe*. Train free legged with no headcheck and don't fight him, let him go along on his own. Try to let the horse tell you how he prefers to be rigged. I like the training on a straightaway idea to build the horse's confidence back up. Find a good vet/chiropractor. It almost always comes down to being sore somewhere and in putting all kinds of binding equipment (tight hopples, high check, spreaders, etc) you only exacerbate the problem. Some other tricks: Drop tugs as low as possible to reduce lift. Use a bike with minimal lift. Sports tape knees under the knee boots, brace bandage down around the ankles to minimize the flex. Flip flops, aluminums, plastic shoes. Knee spreaders (yuk, but if all else fails) *Seems blacksmiths just love the low angle long stretched out toe. Sometimes a short toe, high angle works better. Let the horse tell you.

I used to think that, too, until I had the unique opportunity to let my knee knocker exercise barefoot in an arena (with deep dirt) for several months. Took a shot, told the blacksmith to fit the shoe, don't touch the hoof, and he cleared with room to spare. Now it's an argument every time I'm in the shop to shorten that toe up.

Every horse is different, first you need to know how he hits his knee. Does he go close together or is he a flipper. If a horse goes close, you should lower him to the outside to widen him up. In the case of a horse that hits one knee, you may want to put a diamond toe on just that foot he flips. I prefer to use what I call the slanted square. I square the toe but slant it to the inside forcing him to break over to the inside. Also consider that a heavier shoe will cause a horse to also lift his hoof higher and so will a higher angle. A lighter shoe and a lower angle will cause a horse to go lower, possibly under the knee. As for the one that brushes high up, I would have steel shoes on him, a strong 51 degree angle and lower him a little to the outside.

Could you please rephrase that, but this time in good old American English that this old hoss trainer can make sense out of.

Just a suggestion to chalk all his bbots with line to see where he is truly hitting for sure,a straight track to keep him off his front end where ever' as to keep the pounding to a minimum until what ever is going to work in this case ,Ive only primarily dealt with trotters ,some other good suggestions here on this page...